Means for automatically closing windows



L. M. PHELPS.

MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY CLOSING wmnows.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-1,1916- 1,34.1,155. tented M y 25,1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET l.

amw/wto'v LEONHKU M- PHEZLF5 L. M. PHELPS.

MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY CLOSING wmoows.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1, 1916.

1,341, 155. Patented May 25, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

LEON HRD M. PH ELFE':

L. M. PHELPS.

MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY CLOSING WINDOWS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-1,1916.

1,341,155. fl w May 25, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

LE NHKD M. PHELPS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY CLOSING WINDOWS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1920.

Application filed November 1, 1916. Serial No. 128,976.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD M. PHELPS, a citizen .of the United Statesresiding at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Meansfor Automatically Closing Windows, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to windows, and particularly to latches designedto hold the window sashes open, but so constructed as to permit thelatches to be automatically re leased and the windows closed undercertain conditions.

The general object is to provide latches of this character which willpermit the ordinary and usual manipulation of the windows to close oropen them.

Still another object is to provide latches and latch releasing mechanismof this character so constructed that the latch releasing mechanism maybe connected up with a number of different automatic actuating meansconstructed so as to actuate the latch releasing mechanism under variousconditions.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which is verysimple, cheaply constructed, and readily applied.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein-Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a plurality of windows andmeans whereby the latches of the windows may be released to permit thewindows to close under certain conditions, all the parts being inelevation except the water receptacle which is partly in section, thecasings for the electrically operated closing means, the electricalreleasing mechanism, and the vessel for containing mercury, these partsbeing shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a window showing the meanswhereby the windows are urged to a closing position and the latches forholding the upper and lower sashes;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the rails of two sashes andthrough the spring actuated roller 10;

Fig. l is a horizontal sectional View through the wall of a house, thewindow casing and the window sashes showing my invention as appliedbetween the walls of the house and illustrating a modified form oflatch;

Fig. 5 is an elevation showing another form of strain applying leverwith its. connected latch operating rods;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the windowcasing shown in F 1g. 4 showing one of the latches; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation of a part of a window casing and theupper and lower sashes thereof and showing a slightly modified form oflatch mechanism.

.Beferring particularly to Fig. 1 which illustrates my invention appliedto a pair of lower windows and a pair of upper windows, it will be seenthat the windows are of any ordinary or usual form, the windows beingidentified by the letters A, B, C and D. Jach window has the usualcasing and the upper and lower sashes designated S and S respectively.The upper rail of the lower sash in each of these windows is indicatedas being provided with a spring actuated winding drum 10 over which atape,

cord or other flexible connection 11 passes and upon which this flexibleconnection is wound, this connection 11 extending down to and beingconnected to the lower rail of the upper sash as at 12. I do not wish tolimit myself to any particular construction of the sprin roller. I haveillustrated it, however, in Fig. 8, as a winding drum r0- vided with aninterior coiled spring. ith this construction, the upper sash is alwaysurged toward its closed position and the lower sash is always urgedtoward its lowered position. It is not essential that this springactuated winding drum be used, as the balance weights of the window maybe so arranged that the upper sash will be urged to its closed positionand the lower sash urged to its lowered position. This can beaccomplished by increasing the weights for the upper sash and decreasingthe weights for the lower sash so that the lower sash will more thancounterbalance its weights and the upper sash will not counterbalancethe weights connected to it. By providing the spring roller, however,there is no necessity of changing the balance weights of the windows andthis is partieuity of outwardly projecting pins 13, of any desirednumber, and arranged on one of the side bars of the upper sash, whilethe lower sash S is provided at its lower corner with the outwardlyprojecting pin 1 Operating in connection with the upper sash and itspins 13 is a pivoted latch 15, illustrated in detail in Fig. 2, whosehead is notched to receive any one of the pins 13 and which has anoutwardly projecting shank 15 This latch, by means which will behereafter described, has its head urged toward the longitudinal axis ofthe window so that it may be engaged with any one of the pins 13.Uperating' in connection with the pin 14: of the lower sash is avertically disposed latch bar 16 which extends parallel to the side baroi the lower sash, is pivotally supported upon brackets 17, and has anoutwardly projecting arm 16 or shank. The pin 14 is adapted to engageinany one of the notches inthe lower bar 16 while the single notch inthe latch is adapted to engage with any one of the pins 13. The reasonfor having a single pin 14 on the lower sash, and a plurality of pins 13on the upper sash, is to permit the windows to be brought down intoregister with each other, that is to permit the sashes to be broughtdown into register with each other when desired and permit both theupper'and the lower sashes to be adjusted to any desired degree ofopening. in the construction shown in this Fig. 1, the latches are shownas disposed upon the outside of the window. They may, however, cdisposed upon the inside of the window or in the window casing and theactuating mechanism now to be described may be disposed within the wallof the building.

For the purpose of actuating these latches 1 provide for each pair ofwindows a member 18 pivotally supported between the windows. This membermay have the form of the lever illustrated in Figs, 1 and 5 or asillustrated in Fig. 4, it may be a straight lever 18 perforated at itsopposite ends. Connected to the perforation at one end of this lever 18(or 18) are rods 19 and connected to the opposite perforation are a likepair'of rods 19 One of the rods 19 of a pair is connected to the arm orshank 15 of the latch 15 while the other rod of the same pair isconnected to the arm 18 and to the arm 16 of the latch bar 16. Theserods 19 are formed intermediate their length with the spring coils 20.These spring coils. when the rods 19 are drawn laterally, exert a springtension on the projecting arms 15 and 16 of the latches 15 and 16 so asto ur these atches into the path of the pins 13 and 14: respectively.When, however, the lever 18 is rotated upon its pivot in the directionof the arrow in Fig; 1, so as to release the strain upon the rods 19,the tension of the springs 20 will be relaxed to such an extent that thewindow sashes may be shifted by roller 10, the pins 13 and 14; simplyslipping past the notches in the latches, and the sashes not being heldby these latches. Preferably, though not necessarily, each of the levers18 is formed with a depending portion 21 having a curved face 22 and aflexible connection 2%) is attached to the upper corner of the lever andoperates over this curved face in the same manner that a cord operatesover a sector or pulley. it will be seen that when the flexible connction is drawn downward that the lever will be turned in such position asto draw one pair of rods 19 in one direction and the opposite pair ofrods in an opposite direction until the point of connection between onepair of rods and the other pair 01 rods is nearly on a dead center. Eachof the windows A, B, C and D is provided with the latches, as described,and for each pair of windows there is one of the lovers 18, asdescribed. Lever 18 for windows and l) is connected by 23 to lever 18for windows A and B while connection 23 from this lcvcr extends to amagnetic latching or locking device, designated generally l1). Asillustrated, this is disposed in a casing and comprises an angular lever2d, pivoted at 25, having an arm 26 and an arm 27 projecting at rightangles to the depending arm. The flexible connection 23 extends to andengages the arm 26 below pivot 25. The lever 24 when in operativeposition is on a dead center but is urged from this dead center by acontact spring 2111. Thus the friction of the arm 27 with the member 28is reduced to a minimum and is due solely to the action of the spring Iflcvcr 2 1 is off its center, then the strain of arm 2'? on member 28will be increased by an increase in the number of windows operated. Thearm 97 is held in the position shown in Fig. 1 by a detent armature 28retracted by spring 29 and attracted by electro-magnet 30. As anadditional means for shifting this detent 28 in case magnet 30 does notoperate, 1 provide an operating lever 31 pivoted ism-- mediate of itsends, hearing at its upper end against the lever 28 and at its lower endbeing connected by a flexible connection 32 to certain means which willhereafter be described whereby it may be actuated, this connection 32passing out through an opening in the wall of the casing. Theelectromagnet 30 is connected to a source oi energy and in circuit withthe various operating devices now to be described. 7

To release the latches in case of rain, I provide a casing 33 inclosingthe lever 34, having a cup an. adjustable counterweight 36, and a pipe37 leading from a collecting pan 38. Rain collecting in the pan tricklesinto the cup 35 and depresses lever 34-, cansing a contact member 39 toengage a contact 40 connected by wire 41 to one pole of battery 42, thelever 34 at its pivot being con nected by wire 43 to the other pole ofthe battery 42 through magnet 30. Thus, when the lever 34 descends, acircuit will be closed through battery 42, contact 40, lever 34, wire43, wire 45*, magnet 30, wire 45, lever 24 and contact 24, and thence bywire 45 back to the battery. The energizing of the electric magnet 30attracts detent 28, which is urged in one direction by spring 29 andlever 24 rotates to a position releaslng strain on the connections 23,thus releasing the tension on springs 20 and on the latches. The latchesthus become inoperative to hold the sashes in their adjusted positions.

To cause the closing of the window in case of fog or heavy dew, Iprovide a lever 46 normally bearing against a stop 47 and connected by afibrous cord to lever 84. When dampened, this fibrous connection willcon tract and draw down lever 34 and energize the magnet 30 and causethe closing of the window. The tension of the fibrous element may beadjusted by screw 47.

In order to release the window latch at a predetermined time, I haveshown spaced contacts 49 disposed in a shunt circuit between battery 42and magnet 30 and disposed between these contacts is the alarm windingkey 51 of an alarm clock 50. When the alarm goes oil, the alarm windingkey will close the circuit between the two members 49 and, therefore,close the circuit through the magnet 30.

To provide for closing the windows on a change in temperature, I providea thermostatic control comprising a non-conductive base 52, having aslidably mounted plate supporting a vessel 54, and having a bulb In thisvessel there is inserted a metallic plug 56 in contact with the mercuryin the vessel. The vessel is held to the plates 53 by metallic bands 57and 58. The plate 53 is vertically slotted, at 59, so that the plate maybe vertically adjusted and with it the vessel 55. Contacts 60 and 61engage with the cross bar 57. When the vessel. wit-h the cross bar 57 ismoved up, the cross bar will engage contact 61. Then it is moved down,it will engage the contact 60. A metallic rod 62 passes through guides64 and. into the top of the vessel, one of these guides having a setscrew 65 to hold the rod, A spring 66 urges the rod downward into thevessell Mounted on the base is a pivoted pointer 67 operating on a scale68, a flexible connection 69 connecting the pointer to the rod 62. Byturning the pointer 67 in one direction, the rod will be raised, and inthe opposite direction, the rod will be lowered. A metallic plug 56 iselectrically connected to the cross bar 57 by means of a wire 70. Fromcontact 61 extends a wire 71 leading to switch 72, then to one pole ofthe battery 73, and from the other pole of the batterya wire 74 leadsthrough an electro-magnet 7 5 to wire 44, leading from the battery 42.This wire 44 extends to the metallic strap 64 and thence to the wire 43connected to the wire 45.

If it be desired that the window shall close in case the temperature islowered below a predetermined point, the vessel 55 is shifted upward sothat the cross bar 57 is in engagement with the contact 61. This bringsthe rod 62 down into the mercury, the rod 62 having been previouslyadjusted by shiit'ting pointer 67 to the proper degree of temperature onthe scale 68. This-closes the circuit through magnet 75. lVhen themercury drops, it lifts rod 46. This breaks the circuit through battery73 and magnet 75 and causes the release of an armature 77 which shiftsinto engagement with the contact 78 connected through a wire 70 tobattery 42. Thus, a circuit is completed through the magnet 30,withdrawing the armature 28 from its engagement with the member 24 andpermitting the windows to close. Other adjustments may be made to permitthe windows to close when the sun strikes into the window too strongly.The switch 72 permits the local circuit, including batter 73 and magnet7 5, to be cut out when it is not desired.

It is also possible to cause the release and consequent closing of anumber of windows by the closing of one window. Thus, for instance, thewindow ll, which is representative of a number of windows, is normallyheld open by the latching mechanism pre viously described, the lever 18and the rods 19. From the lever 18 extends a flexible connection 23which at its lower end is connected to a bell crank lever 96. This bellcrank lever is connected to a longitudinally shiftable rod 97 urged inone direction by a spring 98. At its opposite end the rod 97 is flexiblyconnected, as by a pivoted link 99, to the short end of a hell cranklever 100 whose upper end is normally engaged. by a latch 101 pivotallymounted upon the window frame of the window D. lVhen the outer notchedend. of this latch is low ercd it engages the upwardly extending arm ofthe bell. crank lever 100 so that the rod 97 cannot shift under theaction of the spring 98 and, therefore, cannot release the lever 96.When the lower sash of the window D is closed, however, a pin 102 isadapted to engage the latch 101 and lift it from its engagement with thelever 1.90, which will permit the rod 97 to shift and release thelatches connected to the rods 19 so that the sashes oi the window F willclose. This mechanism may also he used. for the purpose of closing thewindows in time ot fire by the provision of a bell crank lever 103having one end disposed beneathothe outer end of the latch 101, theouter end of the bell crank lever normally resting against a stop 104:and being held against this stop by a cord 105 which passes over pulleysand is connected to a bell crank lever 106, one arm of which isweighted. This cord 105 may be any desired length and provided at aplurality of points with fusible connections 107. A spring 108 turns thebell crank 103 in a direction to lift the latch 101 when the cord 105 isburned or separated for any reason. This releases the lever 100 andcauses theclosing of the window F or the windows which may be connectedto the rod 97 in the manner that the window F is connected. An alarm offire may also be sent in under these circumstances by providing acontact 109 on the bell crank lever 103 which, when the lever is turned,en-

gages withthe contact 110 which closes the circuit through a fire alarm111 located at any point, as for instance in a fire house or in thedwelling house itself.

As a means for throwing the lever 21 off of its center when it isreleased by the armature 28, I provide a spring 2 1 which contacts withthe depending arm of the lever 2 1 and'this spring is also connected bya wire 45 to the wire 44 of the main circuit so that as soon as thearmature 28 has been drawn over to release the arm 27 and release thewindow latches, the circuit through the battery will be broken, thuspreventing the battery from becoming used up when for instance the cup35 is held down by water in the cap after the windows close. Theconnection 32 extends to an arm projecting upward from the lever '34 andshould the electrical means for closing the windows fail, the lever'31will cause the operation of the armature 28 when the lever 34: dropsunder the weight of water. It will be obvious that this same. operationmay be manually performed if desired by pulling on the connection 3201'by manually depressing the lever 34- or by manually closing the maincircuit through the magnet 30 by means of a switch. A bell 113 may alsobe mounted in this main circuit to ring or give any other signal whenthe windows are automatically closed.

While I have illustrated in Fig. 1 a lever 18 formed with a rounded face22, over which the cord 23 passes, it is to be understood that the levermight be straight. as in Fig. 3.

In Figs. 1 and 6 I illustrate a modified form of window latch which maybe used under certain circumstances and which is particularly adapted tobe used where the apparatus is installed within the walls of a house soas to be concealed from view. In this case there is no necessity ofusing the members 15 and 16 previously described but the latches 121 arepivoted to the window casing and either frictionally engage the edge ofthe sash or have protuberant portions at their free ends which engagewith notches 122 formed in the window sashes. Each of the latches 121 isconnected to the corresponding rod 19 or 15) and these in turn areconnected to the lever 18 which is adapted to place the latches understrain and tension the coiled resilient portion of the rods 10 and 19.In Fig. 1 is illustrated how the operating cord 23 engages with thelever 18. It will be obvious that the operation of the form of latchshown in Figs. a and (3 is precisely the same as that shown in Fig. 2 inthat a release of the strain upon the rods 19 and 19 will relieve thetension on the coiled portions of these rods and the latches 121 will nolonger press inward with such strength against the window as to hold itbut, on the other hand, will permit the window to move downward eitherunder its own weight or under the action of the spring roller 10. It isto be understoor'l that in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thewindows are held open by the engagement of the relatively shallownotches of the latches 15 and 16 against the pins 13 and L1 and thatbecause of the fact that the latches are held in operative position. bythe coiled portions 20 of the rods 19, the windows may be shifted byhand with very little more exertion than is necessary to ordinarilyraise or lower a window. The springs 20, however, when under tension aresufiicient to hold the latches in cngagcment with the pins 13 and 14:but prevent the window from shifting by its own weight or under theaction of the spring roller 1 or the ordinary sash weights. This is alsotrue of Figs. 4 and 0 where the latches 121 will not prevent the manualshifting of the windows but will prevent the accidental shifting of thewindows under the action of the spring roller or of the sash weights.

In place of the relatively long latching member 16 with its plurality ofnotches 10, I may use a latching member 10, as illustrated in Fig. 7,this latching member 10" being the same in form as the latching member15 and having only one notch but in this case the pin 14 will onlyengage with the latching member 16 when the lower sash is fully raisedand the window cannot be, therefore, adjusted at various heights.

It will be seen that the magnet 30 is con nected by the wire 45 to thelever 24- and that this lever is normally connected through the spring241 to the wire 415 which extends to one pole of the battery while theother side of the magnet 30 is connected by the wire 15" to the wire 4-3or the other wires which complete the circuit to the other pole of thebattery.

The general operation is obvious from what has gone before. The circuitleading llli through the magnet 30 is open at all times unless one ofthe automatic circuit closing devices is actuated, whereupon the circuitthrough the magnet 30 is closed, the magnet is energized, the member 24is released and rotates upon its pivot, thus relieving the strain on thelever 18, this in turn relieving the strain on the springs 20 andreleasing the pressure on the sash latches so that the sashes willclose. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that each automatic releasing deviceor circuit closer is independent of any other circuit closer and thatunder any of the varying conditions named the windows will close.

I do not wish to be limited to the specific constructions illustrated asit is obvious that these may be modified in many ways without departingfrom the spirit of the invention and that while all of the circuitclosing de vices may be used with a window or series of windows, yetonly one need be used if it be only desired to close the windows underone certain condition. 7

Thus it is to be understood that while I have shown the casing E withthe magnetic latch therein as being disposed below the windows, therewould be occasions where it will be best that the magnetic latchbedisposed above the windows or such a distance above the ground that itcould not be accidentally or maliciously operated.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination with a sliding window sash urged to a closedposition, of means for holding the sash in a shifted position comprisinga latch operatively engaging with the sash, a lever pivoted adjacent thesash, a pull connection attached to the lever and including a coiledcontractile spring, said connection when under strain causing the latchto operatively engage the sash, means for rotating said lever to aposition to apply strain on the pull connection, means for holding saidlever in its last named position,

and means for releasing the holding means to thereby slacken the tensionof the spring.

2. The combination with a pair of windows each having sliding sashesurged to a closed position, of a pair of latches coacting with the upperand lower sashes of each window, a rotatable member disposed between thewindows, pull connections extending from said latches to opposite endsof said rotatable member and each including a coiled spring, and meansfor rotating said member in one direction to a position to tension thespring or rotate said member in the other direction to a position torelieve the tension on the spring to thus relieve the operativeengagement between the latches and the sashes.

3. The combination with a window having sashes urged to a closedposition, of latches one for each sash, a lever pivoted adjacent thesash, pull connections attached to the lever and each latch, eachpull-connection including a coiled resilient section, the lever whenturned in one position tightening the pull connections and increasingthe tension of the spring sections whereby to hold the latches inoperative engagement with the sashes, means for holding the first namedlever in operative position comprising a bell crank lever, a flexibleconnection between the bell crank lever and the first named lever, saidbell crank lever when turned to one position tightening said flexibleconnection and holding the first named lever from release, a detentarmature spring actuated to engage the arm of the bell eranlr lever andhold it in its holding position, a magnet adapted to attract thearmature and release said holding lever, said magnet being disposed in anormally open circuit with a source of energy, automatically operatedmeans for closing said circuit, and mechanically operated means forshifting said armature out of engagement with the arm of the bell cranklever. t

41. The combination with a window casing and sash, the latter beingurged in one direction, of means for holding the sash in shiftedposition comprising a latching member pivoted on the window casing andoperatively engaging the sash, a coiled contractile spring attached tosaid latching member, a pivoted member to which. the coiled spring isoperatively connected, the pivoted member applying strain to the springand latch when it is disposed in one position, and releasable means forholding the pivoted member in applied position.

5. The combination with a window casing and sash the latter being urgedin one direction, of means for holding the sash in shifted positioncomprising a latching member pivoted 011 the window casing andoperatively engaging the sash, a coiled contractile spring connected atone end to the latch ing member, a pivoted member to which the other endof the spring is connected to one side of the pivot of said member,whereby when said member is turned to a predetermined position it willapply strain to the spring and to the latch, and releasable means forholding said strain applying member in its strain applying position.

6. The combination with a window casing and a sash urged in onedirection, of means for holding the sash in shifted position including apivoted latching member on the window casing operatively engaging thesash, a coiled contractile spring engaged at one end with said latch andwhen under strain urging the latch to an operative posi tion, means forholding said spring under tension including a pivoted member rotatablein one direction to apply strain to the spring and in the otherdirection to relieve said strain, and means for holding said member in astrain applying position including a detent, a co-acting electro-magnetwhich when energized will shift the detent toreleasing position, asource of current connected in an interrupted circuit with saidelectro-magnet, and means for closing the circuit through the magnet.

7. The combination with a window latch, including a pull memberoperatively engaged with one end of the latch, and means for holding thelatch in operative position and applying strain to the pull memberincluding a pivoted member rotatable in one direction to apply strain tothe pull member and in the other direction to release said strain, aspring urging the pivoted member in a direction to relieve the strain, adetent holding the pivoted member from moving to its releasing position,and a coacting electro-magnet operatively engaging the detent to causethe release of said detent when the magnet is energized, the magnetbeing connected in a normally open circuit with a source of current, andmeans for closing said circuit.

8. The combination with a window casing and an upper and a lower sash,both of said sashes being urged to a closed position, of means forholding the sashes in shifted position comprising a latching member forthe lower sash pivoted to the window casing and extending for a distancealong the window casing and provided with a plurality of notches, a pinon the lower sash engageable with any one of said notches, a latchingmember pivoted upon the window casing and coacting with the upper sashand having a notch, a plurality of pins on the upper ash any one ofwhich is engageable with the notch, means for yieldingly urging saidlatches into engagement with said pins, and releasable means fornormally holding the latches in operative position.

9. The combination with a window casing and a sash, the sash being urgedin one direction, of means for holding the sash in shifted positionagainst the action oi? said urging means comprising a latching memberpivoted on the window casing and a coacting member on the sash, one ofsaid members having a relatively shallow notch into which the othermember engages, a spring which, under tension, urges the members intoengagement with each other, a connection attached to the spring and whenunder strain increases the tension of the spring and the strength ofengagement between said members, and manually releasable means forholding the connection under strain.

In testimony whereof I hereunto allix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

LEONARD M. PHELPS.

Witnesses JOSHUA WILcooK, JoHN C. Ross.

